Simply Red – Home

Simply Red – Home

Originally released in 2003, Home is the eighth studio album by Simply Red and marked an important new chapter for Mick Hucknall and the band. It was the first Simply Red album to be independently produced and released through Hucknall's own Simplyred.com label, while retaining the soulful pop, sophisticated R&B and jazz-influenced style that had defined the group throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The album reached No. 2 in the UK Albums Chart and spent 41 weeks in the UK Top 100.

The album opens with the warm and reflective title track "Home", followed by "Fake" and the standout single "Sunrise". The latter became one of Simply Red's best-known songs of the 2000s, reaching No. 7 in the UK and incorporating a prominent sample from Hall & Oates' 1981 hit "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)". "You Make Me Feel Brand New", a polished reinterpretation of the Stylistics' soul classic, sits alongside the bluesy "Home Loan Blues", the Bob Dylan composition "Positively 4th Street", "Lost Weekend", "Money In My Pocket (Plan B Mix)", "Something For You" and "It's You", before the brief Home (Reprise) brings the album to a close.

The production brings together Simply Red's trademark soulfulness with elements of jazz, R&B and contemporary electronic production. Mick Hucknall is joined by a substantial group of musicians, including Andy Wright, Gota Yashiki, Ian Kirkham, Joe Sample, Bernie Worrell, Dean Parks and members of the London Session Orchestra. The album was recorded and mixed at studios including PFL Studios and Metropolis Studios in London.

This limited-edition CD/DVD version adds substantial bonus material to the original 11-track album. The PAL DVD includes live performances of "You Make Me Feel Brand New" and "Lost Weekend", alternative audio versions of "Sunrise" and "Fake", plus documentary footage including What Is Simply Red?, The Fish Market, 3AM and Keeping It Simple. Simply Red's own store confirms that this limited edition was issued with a bonus DVD and specifically features the singles "You Make Me Feel Brand New", "Sunrise" and "Fake".

For fans of Simply Red, Mick Hucknall, blue-eyed soul, British soul, sophisticated pop and 1990s/2000s adult contemporary music, Home combines polished production with Hucknall's distinctive vocal style and some of the band's most recognisable later-period material. The additional DVD content makes this edition particularly appealing to collectors looking for more than the standard 2003 CD.

CD Tracklist

1. Home
2. Fake
3. Sunrise
4. You Make Me Feel Brand New
5. Home Loan Blues
6. Positively 4th Street
7. Lost Weekend
8. Money In My Pocket (Plan B Mix)
9. Something For You
10. It's You
11. Home (Reprise)

Bonus DVD

Concert Footage

1. You Make Me Feel Brand New (Live)
2. Lost Weekend (Live)

Audio Tracks
3. Sunrise (Who Knows About Forever?)
4. Fake (Single Version)

Documentary Footage
5. What Is Simply Red?
6. The Fish Market, 3AM
7. Keeping It Simple